The company believes one of the best ways it can support farmers in preserving crops vulnerable to the effects of climate change is by training them to alter their production methods while improving the impacts of their activities.

Nestlé has been invited to share details of the agricultural assistance it is providing as part of the UNFCCC Private Sector Initiative, a long-term project that aims to encourage businesses to contribute in a sustainable and profitable way to an effective response to climate change.

Build resilience

“Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is a top priority for Nestlé, but increasingly we recognise we have a role to play in helping our suppliers adapt to the impacts of climate change too,” said Claus Conzelmann, Nestlé’s Global Head of Safety, Health and Environmental Sustainability.

“Since 2001, we have more than halved the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from our factories per tonne of product. At the same time we are helping farmers become more resilient to environmental change.

“This not only enables them to continue to grow crops and reduces the risks to our long-term supply of raw materials, but also helps to ensure food security,” he added.

Farmer training

Nestlé is the world’s leading buyer of coffee, purchasing about 780,000 tonnes a year, or 10% of the world’s supply.

The plantlets are particularly resistant to leaf rust, which has had a significant impact on Colombian coffee production over the past few years as a result of increasing temperatures and excessive rainfall.

One of the ways Nestlé is supporting cocoa farmers through its Cocoa Plan is by distributing higher-yielding, disease-resistant plantlets to improve productivity and minimise the amount of land required for farming.

Between January and October this year, the company distributed more than one million of these plants - which typically produce 50% to 200% more cocoa - to farmers worldwide.

During the same period, Nestlé also trained more than 21,000 cocoa farmers, including 9,900 in Côte d’Ivoire, in more efficient and sustainable growing techniques such as how to prune trees and ferment and dry beans more effectively.